STUDENTS SUPPORT 3-DAY PROTEST

Swaziland National Union of Students

Statement

SOURCE

SNUS CALLS UPON ALL STUDENTS TO JOIN THE JUNE 22 PROTESTS TO END MSWATI’S DICTATORSHIP

The Swaziland National Union of Students (SNUS) urges all youth in the country, in particular all its members and students, to join the protests that will be held from the 22nd to the 24th of June.

SNUS is a part of the Labour Coordinating Committee that is the driving force behind the movement for democracy in our country. We will never betray this revolutionary mandate and we believe that it is the primary motive behind the incarceration of our leader, Maxwell Dlamini and Musa Ngubeni.

This latest protest action comes on the heels of June 16, a day that all Southern African youth remember with a mixture of pride and sadness. This is the day when, in 1976, young South Africans protested against one of the worst crimes against humanity, Apartheid.

As young Swazis, we find ourselves in similar circumstances. Our entire educations system is falling apart as a result of mismanagement by the ruling elite who use our taxes to send their own children to posh institutions overseas.

Instead of building new institutions of higher learning, the regime is building fancy airports that will end up being white elephants, amongst many other useless and socially insensitive projects.

For us to continue to allow such circumstances in the land of our birth is a negation of our very humanity. We fully believe in the principle that all humans are born equal before God and that none has the divine right to lord over others without their consent.

We are not afraid of being jailed anymore. We are not afraid of dying. We only ask that those who will survive us should take up the struggle when we can no longer do so, just as we are taking up the baton from those who are incarcerated and deceased as a result of their commitment to our cause.

Our revolutionary slogan will be heard loudly and clearly on the 22nd of June. SHISA, MLILO, SHISA!!! Let the eternal flame of youth scorch this evil regime!

Statement by SNUS Leadership